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Las Vegas physician sentenced for tax evasion, failing to file

WASHINGTON – A Las Vegas physician who prosecutors say failed to file an income tax return since 1994 was sentenced to a little more than two years in prison, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced.

Robert David Forsyth of Las Vegas was sentenced late Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to 27 months in prison. He also was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $306,171.

According to court documents, from 1999 through 2008, Forsyth worked as a physician and earned income from a variety of sources, including his medical practice, expert witness fees, and, beginning in 2002, Social Security benefits. Forsyth, however, failed to file an individual income tax return from 1999 through 2008. In fact, according to the indictment, Forsyth has not filed an income tax return since the 1994 tax year.

Court documents further established that instead of filing tax returns and paying his taxes, Forsyth, a Canadian citizen and U.S. permanent resident alien, closed all of his personal bank accounts and used a third-party business to cash his paychecks.

He made extensive use of cash including using cash to pay personal expenses in an effort to avoid detection. Throughout the years that Forsyth evaded payment of his taxes, he used income that he earned to fund his own lifestyle. Instead of paying the IRS, Forsyth spent money on gambling, luxury items and hotel accommodations in San Jose, Calif., Costa Rica and Bangkok.

Assistant Attorney General Keneally commended the efforts of special agents from IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorney Mark L. Williams, who prosecuted the case.